Urging the governments of Europe and the
European Union to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization and impose
sanctions, and urging the President to provide information about Hizballah to
the European allies of the United States and to support to the Government of
Bulgaria in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in
Burgas.

Whereas the Department of State has designated Hizballah
as a foreign terrorist organization since October 1997;

Whereas the United States Government designated Hizballah
a specially designated terrorist organization in January 1995 and a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive
Order 13224 (66 Fed. Reg. 49079) in October 2001;

Whereas Hizballah was established in 1982 through the
direct sponsorship and support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
(IRGC) Quds Force and continues to receive training, weapons, and explosives,
as well as political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid, from
Iran;

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in multiple acts of
terrorism over the past 30 years, including the bombings in Lebanon in 1983 of
the United States Embassy, the United States Marine barracks, and the French
Army barracks, the airline hijackings and the kidnapping of European, American,
and other Western hostages in the 1980s and 1990s, and support of the Khobar
Towers attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans in 1996;

Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on
Terrorism issued by the Department of State, Since at least 2004,
Hizballah has provided training to select Iraqi Shia militants, including on
the construction and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that can
penetrate heavily-armored vehicles.;

Whereas, in 2007, a senior Hizballah operative, Ali Mussa
Daqduq, was captured in Iraq with detailed documents that discussed tactics to
attack Iraqi and coalition forces, and has been directly implicated in a
terrorist attack that resulted in the murder of 5 members of the United States
Armed Forces;

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in the terrorist
attacks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the
Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994;

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in acts of terrorism
and extrajudicial violence in Lebanon, including the assassination of political
opponents;

Whereas, in June 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,
an international tribunal for the prosecution of those responsible for the
February 14, 2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq
Hariri, issued arrest warrants against 4 senior Hizballah members, including
its top military commander, Mustafa Badr al-Din, identified as the primary
suspect in the assassination;

Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on
Terrorism issued by the Department of State, Hizballah is the likely
perpetrator of 2 bomb attacks that wounded United Nations Interim Force
in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers in Lebanon during 2011;

Whereas, according to the October 18, 2012, report of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations to the United Nations Security Council
on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) (in this
preamble referred to as the October 18 Report), The
maintenance by Hizbullah of sizeable sophisticated military capabilities
outside the control of the Government of Lebanon … creates an atmosphere of
intimidation in the country[,] … puts Lebanon in violation of its obligations
under Resolution 1559 (2004)[,] and constitutes a threat to regional peace and
stability.;

Whereas John Brennan, Assistant to the President for
Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, stated on October 26, 2012, that
Hizballah’s social and political activities must not obscure [its] true
nature or prevent us from seeing it for what it is—an international terrorist
organization actively supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps –
Quds Force;

Whereas David Cohen, Under Secretary of the Treasury for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated on August 10, 2012, Before
al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible
for killing more Americans in terrorist attacks than any other terrorist
group.;

Whereas, according to a September 13, 2012, Department of
the Treasury press release, The last year has witnessed Hizballah’s most
aggressive terrorist plotting outside the Middle East since the
1990s.;

Whereas, since 2011, Hizballah has been implicated in
thwarted terrorist plots in Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Thailand, and elsewhere;

Whereas, on July 18, 2012, a suicide bomber attacked a bus
in Burgas, Bulgaria, murdering 5 Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver
in a terrorist attack that, according to Mr. Brennan, bore the hallmarks
of a Hizballah attack;

Whereas Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
stated of the Burgas terrorist attack, We have unquestionable, fully
substantiated evidence that this was done by Hizballah backed by
Iran.;

Whereas Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and a
member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);

Whereas, according to the October 18 Report, There
have been credible reports suggesting involvement by Hizbullah and other
Lebanese political forces in support of the parties in the conflict in Syria. …
Such militant activities by Hizbullah in Syria contradict and undermine the
disassociation policy of the Government of Lebanon, of which Hizbullah is a
coalition member.;

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated,
We have seen Hizballah training militants in Yemen and Syria, where it
continues to provide material support to the regime of Bashar al Assad, in part
to preserve its weapon supply lines.;

Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the Department of the
Treasury designated Hizballah pursuant to Executive Order 13582 (76 Fed. Reg.
52209), which targets those responsible for human rights abuses in Syria, for
providing support to the Government of Syria;

Whereas, according to the Department of the Treasury,
since early 2011, Hizballah has provided training, advice and extensive
logistical support to the Government of Syria’s increasingly ruthless effort to
fight against the opposition and has directly trained Syrian
government personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of Syrian
forces by Iran’s terrorism arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods
Force;

Whereas, on September 13, 2012, the Department of the
Treasury designated the Secretary-General of Hizballah, Hasan Nasrallah, for
overseeing Hizballah’s efforts to help the Syrian regime’s violent
crackdown on the Syrian civilian population;

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated,
Even in Europe, many countries … have not yet designated Hizballah as a
terrorist organization. Nor has the European Union. Let me be clear: failure to
designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization makes it harder to defend our
countries and protect our citizens. As a result, for example, countries that
have arrested Hizballah suspects for plotting in Europe have been unable to
prosecute them on terrorism charges.; and

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan called on the
European Union to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization, saying,
European nations are our most sophisticated and important
counterterrorism partners, and together we must make it clear that we will not
tolerate Hizballah’s criminal and terrorist activities.: Now,
therefore, be it

That the Senate—

(1)

urges the
governments of Europe and the European Union to designate Hizballah as a
terrorist organization so that Hizballah cannot use the territories of the
European Union for fundraising, recruitment, financing, logistical support,
training, and propaganda;

(2)

urges the
governments of Europe and the European Union to impose sanctions on Hizballah
for providing material support to Bashar al Assad’s ongoing campaign of violent
repression against the people of Syria;

(3)

expresses support
for the Government of Bulgaria as it conducts an investigation into the July
18, 2012, terrorist attack in Burgas, and expresses hope that the investigation
can be successfully concluded and that the perpetrators can be identified as
quickly as possible;

(4)

urges the
President to provide all necessary diplomatic, intelligence, and law
enforcement support to the Government of Bulgaria to investigate the July 18,
2012, terrorist attack in Burgas;

(5)

reaffirms support
for the Government of Bulgaria by the United States as a member of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and urges the United States, NATO, and the
European Union to work with the Government of Bulgaria to safeguard its
territory and citizens from the threat of terrorism; and

(6)

urges the
President to make available to European allies and the European public
information about Hizballah’s terrorist activities and material support to
Bashar al Assad’s campaign of violence in Syria.